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Kathy Gersch points out how the simplest false understandings, or corporate "myths" can lead to huge losses for your company, or huge opportunities for the innovative competitor who looks to challenge the status quo.

In 2004, Malcolm Gladwell wrote in The New Yorker that there was no way to break into the commodity ketchup market. You could get mustard in Dijon, raspberry, chipotle, stone-ground, and even stout-beer flavors, but according to all his research, interest in new varieties of ketchup was nil. Gladwell went on to document tales of failed attempts at complicated taste tests and innovative market strategies to push exotically-flavored ketchup.

Ketchup (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

But, could there really only be room for one flavor of ketchup in the marketplace? Scott Norton and Mark Ramadan didn’t accept Gladwell’s assertion as fact and endeavored to bust this myth – and discovered an opportunity. If mustard came in 27 different flavors there must be room for ketchup variety. The two went deep where the big brands were shallow and tried approaches the industry experts said were futile.

As Fast Company reported this month, ten years after Gladwell’s article discouraged any innovation in the ketchup space, Sir Kensington’s Ketchup (as Norton and Ramadan’s product is called) is now available in more than 3,000 restaurants and stores including Whole Foods. It’s a small start, but that’s the point – it took a decade for someone to finally expose this myth.

This story illustrates how blind to opportunities we can be. When all signs point to “no,” most of us don’t try. In fact, we often don’t even think a step further. These types of blind spots exist all around us, even in your own organization. Don’t believe me? When you’re introduced to your company’s next new employee, ask them to write down three things they notice that, at first glance, don’t make sense. I had someone test this for me recently. My volunteer uncovered a few myths in his organization:

Nobody refills the copier paper because they were told once by an admin (who’s no longer with the company) that it was a complicated process and you could break the machine. Hours of productivity have been wasted while people waited for the new admin to change the copier paper, all the while the admin was wondering why these people were so helpless.

Everyone thinks that there is a magic process to creating a marketing video. Many previously produced videos were done in a studio, leaving people to think that the quality expectations were high. No one considered doing a video “selfie” for fear it would seem poor-quality. After being asked why they hadn’t requested self-made videos, marketing made that formal request, offered some “how-to” tips, and provided a list of topics. The self-made videos began to pour in.

The field team was expected to “report” on their experiences at the client. Some very detailed written reports were commended for their quality, leaving the field team thinking this was the template they needed to follow. Our new guy was an innovator who decided he could deliver his report faster and more succinctly via video. The leaders celebrated this as a great example, making it clear that the value was in communicating clearly, succinctly, thoroughly, and in a method that is most efficient.

Myths like these can shut-down innovation and encourage people to retain bad habits. Here’s how to identify – and eradicate – myths in your own organization:

Start asking people what they “can’t” do. People run into barriers often, most likely every day. Ask your people to make a list of what they aren’t allowed to do and you’ll get a list of ideas they’d like to pursue. Give them any insight you may have and promise them your support. Soon, you’ll see progress where before there was none.

Look for areas where people are showing a lack of interest or participation. If you start asking questions like, “What’s stopping you from participating?” you’ll identify myths that are counteracting any encouragement you’ve been giving.

Listen for key words – “can’t,” “won’t,” “doesn’t.” These words are energy stoppers. They halt all momentum anyone had in that direction. Sometimes these messages save people from spending energy on a lost cause, but other times they stop new and innovative ways to solve the problem from emerging.

The bottom line: myths can be incredibly damaging to your company’s future. An unintentional quick dismissal of a new idea encourages a sense of complacency within your organization that can be contagious – and catastrophic. Just look at Kodak, Borders, and RIM. Complacency is a slow-creeper and a constant, daily campaign against it will help keep it from taking hold in your organization.